Chancellor George Osborne’s latest spending review implemented welfare caps, wholesale cuts across government departments and big infrastructure spending including the “largest programme of investment in roads for 50 years and in railways since the Victorian age”. Total government spending for 2015-16 will be £745bn, £120bn lower than if it had continue to rise at the average rate of the last three decades, Osborne said. The spending round delivers a total of £11.5bn in departmental budget reductions. These include cuts of almost 6% at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. However the department’s capital spending was put up by 9%, while more money was pumped into apprenticeships and UK exports and £2bn was set aside for Local Enterprise Partnerships. British Association for Print and Communication chairman Sidney Bobb said: “Osborne is making several cuts including at the business department, which isn’t helpful when you consider more people need to be doing business and trading. “Most of the cuts are almost immediate while most of the spending is in the future. He’s not putting any money in today but in 2015 which, coincidence has it, is the year for the election. “This is a political not an economic announcement; there is no jam today; there is no jam tomorrow, and there will be jam only when the election comes around.” BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said: “The spending review was pretty much as billed, but one of the things we were particularly pleased about was the government recognised it has to keep investing in the business sector and supporting it. “Osborne has made hard decisions: there are significant job losses in the public sector, and departmental cuts do have a negative effect on some government purchasing. So it’s important we continue to market the effectiveness of print so it’s not one of the casualties. “Meanwhile some of the infrastructure projects, while they may not be popular with people when railway lines go through their back garden, will stimulate aspects of the economy.” Commitment to keep investing in innovation, science and technology was a very positive sign, she said. Woodward added: “The figures on borrowing are disappointing, but overall it’s almost as good as we could expect. It’s very important everybody within the industry keeps emphasising the need for easier financing, continued skills support and stimulus to business innovation.”...

Managing partners Lisa Williams and Ian Carnazza both used to work at Bezier, which put its print operations into administration earlier this year. The new set up links together York-based Mosaic Group’s related disciplines of marketing strategy and creative, print management and fulfilment. The firm said it aimed to exploit twin gaps in the POP services market: smaller brands seeking to win space in a crowded retail environment, and larger clients wanting a more responsive service. Carnazza, former managing director at Bezier’s Wakefield operation in West Yorkshire, said Mosaic Group chief executive Tony Gill had been looking at the POP market for some time but had been waiting for the right moment and the right people to specialise in that area. “We follow the same model of print management and work with carefully selected printers and specialists in each of the areas of POP – creative, design and print,” said Carnazza, who will work alongside William’s who was big on the design side while at Bezier, he said. “We follow a low-cost, high-value solution and are supported by the Mosaic print management business,” he said. “We can be a significant part of the Mosaic family.” “With the backing of Mosaic we will stand toe-to-toe with traditional suppliers who offer purely manufacturing. We are not here to be a bit-part player and expect to be a multi-million pound business in time.” Gill said: “Lisa and Ian are the final pieces of the jigsaw. By combining their knowhow with the economies of scale and provenance of a £33m turnover marketing, print management and fulfilment group I’m confident we can give customers the best of both worlds.” The team, based at Mosaic Group’s print management and fulfilment creative hub just outside York, has experience of working with some of the leading names in fast moving consumer goods. At Bezier Carnazza worked with Boots and Dixons Retail. Earlier this year Bezier went into administration with the loss of around 400 jobs in West Yorkshire and Dorset. Administrators Deloitte said the company suffered a prolonged period of difficult trading. For Mosaic, meanwhile, the launch of Mosaic POP represents its latest expansion. The company bought DMS, a direct marketing agency specialising in charities, for £2.1m just over a year ago. DMS was formerly part of the Involve Marketing Partnership....

Managing partners Lisa Williams and Ian Carnazza both used to work at Bezier, which put its print operations into administration earlier this year. The new set up links together York-based Mosaic Group’s related disciplines of marketing strategy and creative, print management and fulfilment. The firm said it aimed to exploit twin gaps in the POP services market: smaller brands seeking to win space in a crowded retail environment, and larger clients wanting a more responsive service. Carnazza, former managing director at Bezier’s Wakefield operation in West Yorkshire, said Mosaic Group chief executive Tony Gill had been looking at the POP market for some time but had been waiting for the right moment and the right people to specialise in that area. “We follow the same model of print management and work with carefully selected printers and specialists in each of the areas of POP – creative, design and print,” said Carnazza, who will work alongside William’s who was big on the design side while at Bezier, he said. “We follow a low-cost, high-value solution and are supported by the Mosaic print management business,” he said. “We can be a significant part of the Mosaic family.” “With the backing of Mosaic we will stand toe-to-toe with traditional suppliers who offer purely manufacturing. We are not here to be a bit-part player and expect to be a multi-million pound business in time.” Gill said: “Lisa and Ian are the final pieces of the jigsaw. By combining their knowhow with the economies of scale and provenance of a £33m turnover marketing, print management and fulfilment group I’m confident we can give customers the best of both worlds.” The team, based at Mosaic Group’s print management and fulfilment creative hub just outside York, has experience of working with some of the leading names in fast moving consumer goods. At Bezier Carnazza worked with Boots and Dixons Retail. Earlier this year Bezier went into administration with the loss of around 400 jobs in West Yorkshire and Dorset. Administrators Deloitte said the company suffered a prolonged period of difficult trading. For Mosaic, meanwhile, the launch of Mosaic POP represents its latest expansion. The company bought DMS, a direct marketing agency specialising in charities, for £2.1m just over a year ago. DMS was formerly part of the Involve Marketing Partnership....

The two companies will come together at the beginning of next month as a result of a share swap between BT&D owner Felix Dennis and Berforts majority shareholder Gerald White. The duo will have a 50:50 share in the combined venture, with White taking over as chief executive. The new group will be called Berforts BT&D and has projected sales of more than £25m, placing it in third spot behind St Ives Clays and CPI in terms of size. Publishing magnate Dennis rescued Butler & Tanner in the summer of 2008 after it was controversially closed by then-owner Media & Print Investments. However, the Frome-based colour book printer has remained stubbornly loss-making, despite bolting on a profitable map printing business as a result of a deal with Ordnance Survey in 2010. Dennis has continued to support the company, loaning the business more than £5m and providing security for its £650,000 overdraft according to its last filed accounts. But he has also been evaluating sale options for the business since at least the end of last year. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 2012 but described himself as “provisionally” on the mend six months ago. BT&D made an operating loss of £1.5m on sales of £14.9m in the period from 11 February 2011 to 31 December 2011. The bottom line loss was £1.9m and auditors Bright Grahame Murray added a going concern note because the group’s liabilities exceeded its assets by £1.9m. However, White told PrintWeek that he was optimistic about the prospects for the combined entity once his business skills were added to the equation. “We’re going to turn it around,” he stated. “The deal has been done to make sure it doesn’t incur losses in the future. “Felix has supported this through thick and thin. He is determined and I am determined that it will be there for the long-term.” White urged publishers to support the new entity. “This is a British book printing company supplying British publishers. We are relying on the publishing industry to support us,” he said. Berforts, which acquired Information Press in April 2012 and the digital division of Bluepoint Cambridge three months after that, is profitable and set to achieve turnover of around £15m this year. It has operations in Hastings, Stevenage and Eynsham and employs 125 staff. BT&D employs 105 in Frome. The management structure for the enlarged group is “under review”, White added, and the group plans to continue with its existing locations for the foreseeable future....

The two companies will come together at the beginning of next month as a result of a share swap between BT&D owner Felix Dennis and Berforts majority shareholder Gerald White. The duo will have a 50:50 share in the combined venture, with White taking over as chief executive. The new group will be called Berforts BT&D and has projected sales of more than £25m, placing it in third spot behind St Ives Clays and CPI in terms of size. Publishing magnate Dennis rescued Butler & Tanner in the summer of 2008 after it was controversially closed by then-owner Media & Print Investments. However, the Frome-based colour book printer has remained stubbornly loss-making, despite bolting on a profitable map printing business as a result of a deal with Ordnance Survey in 2010. Dennis has continued to support the company, loaning the business more than £5m and providing security for its £650,000 overdraft according to its last filed accounts. But he has also been evaluating sale options for the business since at least the end of last year. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 2012 but described himself as “provisionally” on the mend six months ago. BT&D made an operating loss of £1.5m on sales of £14.9m in the period from 11 February 2011 to 31 December 2011. The bottom line loss was £1.9m and auditors Bright Grahame Murray added a going concern note because the group’s liabilities exceeded its assets by £1.9m. However, White told PrintWeek that he was optimistic about the prospects for the combined entity once his business skills were added to the equation. “We’re going to turn it around,” he stated. “The deal has been done to make sure it doesn’t incur losses in the future. “Felix has supported this through thick and thin. He is determined and I am determined that it will be there for the long-term.” White urged publishers to support the new entity. “This is a British book printing company supplying British publishers. We are relying on the publishing industry to support us,” he said. Berforts, which acquired Information Press in April 2012 and the digital division of Bluepoint Cambridge three months after that, is profitable and set to achieve turnover of around £15m this year. It has operations in Hastings, Stevenage and Eynsham and employs 125 staff. BT&D employs 105 in Frome. The management structure for the enlarged group is “under review”, White added, and the group plans to continue with its existing locations for the foreseeable future....